Archive for November, 2012

Friday Family Spotlight: Meet Caroline’s Family

Friday, November 30th, 2012

It’s finally FRIDAY and you know what that means!?! Time to spotlight another AWESOME family here at Breastfeed.Babywear.ClothDiaper.Naturally!! Today I am excited to introduce you to Caroline’s family.  Her home sounds a lot like my own with busy little boys keeping mama and papa on their toes!! Read on to learn more about Caroline and her beautiful family!

Who are the members of your family?

In our house, you’ll find Andres, my husband, me (Caroline), and our two boisterous boys: Jojo, 2.5, and Giovani, 16 months. They are close in age and really good friends to one another.

What do you and your family like to do for recreation?

With two boys, we’re always moving. Our boys love to dance, sing, play with cars and blocks, bake, and lately it’s been all about coloring since the weather has turned colder.

How did you meet your significant other?

My husband and I met in college, where we were both part of the Greek system on campus. It’s a great way to get involved and meet new people.

What is your favorite Mom’s Milk Boutique Product?

Some of my favorite things came from MMB, including my Boba, Thirsties Duo AIOs, Simplex AIO, and our Dandelion toys. However, what I constantly recommend to other moms is the detergent sampler. I love that you can select which detergents you want to try, and that there’s a great variety. It really helps make the decision.

What is your favorite baby carrier and why?

I LOVE MY BOBA. It is easy to use and so versatile. I like to say it’s like the one-size of carriers – birth to toddler! I’ve used it at weddings, fairs, parks, the mall, you name it. It is so comfortable.

Describe your cloth diaper stash:

We love pockets and AIOs! The bulk of our stash is BumGenius 4.0, but we have a lot of GroVia AIOs, Simplex and Basix AIOs, Thirsties Duo AIOs, and Kawaiis, too! I love variety.

What goals do you have for your family in the next year or two?

Over the next two years, we’re excited to have two potty trained boys, a little bit of travel, the start of preschool, and maybe, just maybe, one more baby.

Describe your daily routine:

I work out of the home, so my husband gets to spend all morning with the boys during the week. It generally means a lot of playing and maybe some errands, followed by naps just after lunch. On weekdays, our nanny comes in the afternoon to play and cook, and she teaches them Spanish. When I get home, both boys climb up their kitchen stool to help me make supper and we talk about all kinds of things over supper. Bedtime is around 7:30. On the weekends, we like to fit in some fun family outings in the afternoons, too, like exploring different parts of town or visiting family.

What has been your toughest challenge as a mom so far?

I really struggled balancing pressure from friends and family to parent one way and doing it how I thought was best. Now, I’ve found a great support network of like-minded moms who support my decisions, and it makes all the difference.

What are some of your favorite “me” time indulgences?

Splurging for myself means my favorite pizza, a little time to read a book, or maybe do some online sale shopping. I actually really love the scones at the coffee shop near work, so those are a great reward, too.

What’s your number one secret for stretching a dollar?

Planning ahead helps me save a lot of money. I like to plot out our meals for two full weeks, and then build my grocery list off of that. I don’t have to use coupons, but I do need to stick to both the list and the menu, and we don’t feel deprived if we’re doing it right.

Share one special family tradition you have:

I give my boys stationary in their stockings at Christmas. They are still too young to write their own thank you notes or letters, but they help by scribbling their approval. I hope that one day, it will be a habit for them to correspond and send thanks regularly.

What is one of your favorite quotes?

“It’s never too late, or in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald.

If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

To pause time so I could nap once in a while.

Thanks for sharing about your family Caroline! I love the idea of stationary in Christmas stockings…just might “borrow” that tradition from you! 😉 Best wishes on your potty training endeavours ahead. 🙂

Would you like to have your family featured in a Friday Family Spotlight AND win a FREE $10 gift certificate to Mom’s Milk Boutique for your participation? If so email sarah@momsmilkboutique.com with the subject line “Friday Family Spotlight Inquiry” and share something interesting about your family in your email message.

Happy Friday Everyone!!

-Sarah

Bittersweet Endings…

Thursday, November 29th, 2012

Last picture I have of Izzy nursing

On Monday, November 19, I nursed 21 month old Izzy to sleep, not knowing it would be the last time he nursed. Had I known, I would have savored it…fully immersed myself in the moment with him. Stroked his head. Synchronized our breathing. Held him close. Listened intently to his suckling. However I did none of that. Instead I just assumed we had many more nights ahead of us and routinely nursed him to sleep without a second thought about it. Well turns out, I am no longer a nursing mama…and my feelings about it are all over the map! I admit there were a few many times over the last 21 months of nursing that I thought “I can’t wait to be done!”. Although now that we are actually done, a part of me is kind of sad. Looking back over the past several months, it should have been apparent the end was near, but I didn’t fully realize how soon it would sneak up on us.

If you were to ask me how to wean a baby, I wouldn’t have an answer for you. Well I guess my answer would be to either get pregnant (as was the case with my first two boys) or go on vacation, lol! Traveling seemed to have the biggest impact on weaning with Izzy. Over the summer we were out of town for 12 consecutive weeks. During that time there was a great deal of extra stimulation, additional attention and affection from extended family members, and very little in the way of a daily rhythm or routine. Plus there was a lot of new and exciting foods around all.the.time for us to enjoy. During that time, Izzy started to nurse significantly less and generally only asked to nurse when he was tired.

During the last 6 weeks or so, Izzy primarily only nursed to sleep at bedtime with a few exceptions here and there. Then we went on vacation to California over Thanksgiving and he stopped asking to nurse to sleep. One night I even laid right next to him in bed reading a book and he just snuggled up against me and fell asleep. That is when I realized we were done.

Nursing Izzy is something I have done every single day, multiple times a day, for the past 21 months…and it feels strange to suddenly be done. I am happy we enjoyed 21 months of nursing together. And I am happy to have a break from breastfeeding before getting pregnant with baby #4. But at the same time I am having hard time knowing that that part of our relationship has changed. It truly is bittersweet.

Interestingly enough for the first time ever, Izzy pretended to nurse one of his stuffed animals the other day….after not nursing for 9 days himself….go figure! 🙂

Izzy pretending to nurse his monkey

I would like to do something special to mark the end of nursing, but haven’t figured out what to do. Did you do anything special to honor the end of nursing with your child? Would love to hear some ideas from readers!

In the meantime, I am thankful we still have co-sleeping and babywearing!

-Sarah

Tasty Tuesday: Cashew Nut Cream

Tuesday, November 27th, 2012

I had a craving for something sweet the other night so I made this simple cashew nut cream and put it over fresh mixed berries. It was sooo yummy and definitely satisfied my sweet tooth. In fact once my kids saw me munching, they ended up eating most all of it. You would have thought they were eating the most decadent dessert ever the way they enjoyed and devoured it. However it was four simple ingredients: cashews, maple syrup, water, and fruit….that’s all!

Ingredients:

1 cup of raw cashews

1/2 cup of water

2-3 tablespoons maple syrup (or sweetener of choice; if using syrup, use real maple syrup!)

Directions:

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth; approximately 2 minutes. Stop and scrape sides of blender as needed to ensure cream is thoroughly mixed.

Serve:

Serve with fruit of choice. I like to scoop a generous dollop atop mixed berries or chopped apples with cinnamon sprinkled on top (as shown in picture). You could add raisins and sliced almonds with apples for an extra yummy and filling treat. You could also use the cream as a dip for sliced apples, strawberries, or peach slices.  Ohhh, yum…now I am craving some cashew nut cream with fruit, lol!

The recipe above is enough for a few servings, however if you try to cut recipe in half, there likely will not be enough for your blender to mix. You can store any left-over cream in the fridge for a day or two, but chances are you won’t have any left! 🙂

Enjoy!

-Sarah

Sunday Funday Giveaway: Sloomb Knit Wool Cover

Sunday, November 25th, 2012

I am soooo excited for this giveaway because WOOL ROCKS!! You will seriously LOVE this wool diaper cover by sustainablebabyish. It is super-duper soft and comfortable because it is made from öko-tex certified wool yarns and dyes. All knits are double layered for a natural, breathable, leak-proof, year-round wool diaper cover. Sustainablebabyish covers are available in four sizes to find the perfect fit for your baby age newborn to potty training. They are available in several beautiful, gender-neutral, earth tones. As a fun added bonus the tag is actually made of plantable, wildflower, recycled stock. In other words when you are done with the tag, plant in potting soil or your garden, add water, & watch your flowers grow. How cool is that?!?

Check back later this week for a full review on Sloomb Knit Wool Cover. In the meantime, enter this week’s giveaway for your chance to win a FREE Sloomb Knit Wool Cover! Winner will be notified via email on Sunday, December 2. Winner is asked to reply within 48 hours  in order to claim their prize.

Good luck everyone!

-Sarah
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Silent Saturday: How did you spend Black Friday?

Saturday, November 24th, 2012

Our third year in a row spending Black Friday at the beach makes it an official Family Tradition for us!!

Barefoot on the beach … might just be my favorite place to be!

Playing in the sand makes kids of all ages HAPPY!

The bobaAIR saves the day…again!

A tired Izzy lulled to sleep by the rolling waves and gentle motion of being carried on mama’s back…hooray for Toddlerwearing!!

 

What did you do on Black Friday? What is your family’s tradition?

 

-Sarah